The effects of cueing target location and response mode on interference and negative priming using a visual selection paradigm

Two experiments are reported that examine the effects of cueing the location of a target in the prime display on interference and subsequent negative priming. T he prime and probe dis- plays comprised two words, a target and a distractor. In the prime display, the two words were either the same (response compatible) or different (response incompatible). T he target in the probe display was unrelated to the prime distractor (control), the same word as the distractor (ignored repetition), or semantically related to the distractor (ignored semantic repetition). In Experiment 1, cueing the location of the prime target signi®cantly reduced the interference effect but not the subsequent identity negative priming (N P) effect. In contrast, not cueing the prime target resulted in the elimination of the identity NP. T here was no evidence of semantic N P in this experiment. In Experiment 2, where a categorization response was required, signi®cant interference was obtained in the prime display that was not in¯ uenced by cueing the location of the target. Although there was signi®cant semantic NP, identity NP failed to reach signi®cance. T he two experiments were analysed together, and ®ndings are discussed in relation to current models of negative primin